Compare Nepal's Districtsजिल्लाहरूको तुलना
Pick two districts for a full head-to-head on population, area, density, literacy, growth rate and headquarters. Below, neighbouring districts within each province and the biggest match-ups among Nepal's most populous and largest-by-area districts. Figures follow the National Population and Housing Census 2021.
Matchups generated
764
same-province pairs + top-20 population x top-20 area
Most populous
Kathmandu
2,041,587 people (2021)
Largest by area
Dolpa
7,889 km²
Nepal's most populous and largest districts, head-to-head
Cross-province comparisons among the 20 most populous and 20 largest-by-area districts, the extremes people search for most.
341 more cross-province match-ups below, grouped by each district's home province.
Every neighbouring district, compared
All same-province district pairs, grouped by province. Each links to a full head-to-head on population, area, density and more.
Koshi Province
91 matchups
Madhesh Province
28 matchups
Bagmati Province
78 matchups
Gandaki Province
55 matchups
Lumbini Province
66 matchups
Karnali Province
45 matchups
Sudurpashchim Province
36 matchups
Comparing Nepal's districts
Which two districts can I compare here?
Any pair of districts that share a province (for example Kathmandu vs Bhaktapur, both in Bagmati) get a dedicated head-to-head page, plus cross-province match-ups among the 20 most populous and 20 largest-by-area districts (for example Kathmandu vs Dolpa). That covers 764 of the 2,926 mathematically possible district pairs, the ones with real search interest, rather than generating every combination.
Which is Nepal's most populous district?
Kathmandu, with 2,041,587 people at the 2021 census.
Which is Nepal's largest district by area?
Dolpa, at 7,889 km² of official statistical area.
What figures are compared?
Population (2021 census), area, density, annual growth rate 2011-21, literacy, sex ratio, headquarters and number of local levels, every figure sourced to the National Population and Housing Census 2021.
Where can I see every district ranked, not just paired?
The district rankings page sorts all 77 districts by population, area, density and more in one sortable table.
Explore districts
Full profiles with population, geography, local levels and history, or the sortable rankings table for all 77 districts.
Sources & data note
All population, household, density, sex-ratio and growth figures are from the National Population and Housing Census 2021 (NSO National Report, Table 15; census reference date 25 November 2021), with 2011 comparisons from the 2011 census recalculated to current boundaries for the four districts split in 2017. Areas are the official statistical areas used by NSO/CBS, the 77 districts sum to exactly 147,181 km², not GIS polygon areas; where Wikipedia's list page prints conflicting areas for the four split districts (Nawalpur, Nawalparasi West, Rukum East, Rukum West), the NSO-consistent figures are used. Literacy rates are computed from NSO Table 24 raw counts (population aged 5+ who can read and write); the computed national aggregate, 76.25%, matches NSO's published 76.2%. Headquarters coordinates are approximate map-pin locations (±2–5 km), not surveyed points.
- National Population and Housing Census 2021: National Report (Tables 15 & 24)National Statistics Office (NSO), Government of Nepal ↗
- NSO Microdata catalog: NPHC 2021 related materialsNational Statistics Office (NSO) ↗
- Nepal: Provinces & Districts, census populations 1981–2021citypopulation.de (reproducing NSO/CBS data) ↗
- Nepal: Municipalities, all 753 local levels by districtcitypopulation.de (reproducing NSO/CBS data) ↗
- List of districts of NepalWikipedia ↗
- 2021 Nepal censusWikipedia ↗
- Nepal: Subnational Administrative Boundaries (COD-AB, 77 districts)UN OCHA HDX / Survey Department of Nepal ↗
- nepal-districts-new.geojson: 77-district boundary file (MIT)mesaugat/geoJSON-Nepal (GitHub) ↗